New growth rules target the western communities

A new plan for western development could give Wellington and Royal Palm Beach greater say in shaping the neighborhoods and shopping centers that grow up around them.

Palm Beach County proposes creating a new "overlay" for western communities, which would define how many homes could be built on agricultural land in Loxahatchee.

Traffic concerns, strain on schools and parks, and saving space for new businesses and the jobs they would bring are among the issues addressed in the new guidelines.

The overlay goes before the Palm Beach County Commission on April 28, after community meetings, input from local governments and a review by county advisory boards. If approved, it would undergo a review by the state Department of Community Affairs and come back to the commission for a final vote in August.

The plan could allow as many as 8,300 more homes beyond what building limits permit.

The overlay would be a follow-up to the failed "sector plan" - development guidelines a decade in the making that county commissioners abandoned last year, after opposition from developers, residents and state regulators.

Concerns that the old rules failed to properly plan for growth doomed the sector plan.